My patriotic criticism of the Founding Fathers

Why criticizing the Founding Fathers is the most patriotic thing I can do this Fourth of July

THE FOUNDING FATHERS WERE HYPOCRITES!!!

How can you justify a war for “independence” saying “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” and then the FIRST ARTICLE of your constitution specifically details that some are 3/5 of a person?

For me, the concept of patriotism is a very tricky one. Yes, I am eternally grateful for the opportunities that this country affords me. However, I can’t ignore the fact that because of my skin, I wasn’t intended to have these freedoms by the Founding Fathers. I can’t ignore the fact that one of the reasons the United States developed into a world power was because it was able to benefit from a labor sources not available in Europe. I can’t ignore that to this day, the war that has killed the most American’s wasn’t about protecting this country from an external threat. It was fought over the ability for someone else to own my body. So when I see someone draped in the American flag talking about how America is the greatest country in the world, I can’t help but think, for who?

A bit of credit

While the Founding Fathers were certainly hypocrites; they were NOT dumb. They knew that conversations about slaves, women’s right and other social issues would constantly be a point of conversation and contention. So they punted these issues down the road a couple of generations by creating a Constitution that could be amended at any time. That I will give them credit for, but it doesn’t let them off the hook.

Modern day freedom fighters

Today, people who oppose to movements like Black Lives Matter and Feminism like to make the argument that racism/sexism is over. Maybe there are fewer overtly racists policies on the books, but we are far from being over the effects of those institutions. We can all agree that a typical black community is probably going to be less economically advantaged when compared to a typical white community. We can all agree that in general, women are paid less than men. We can all agree that things aren’t perfect yet. But wasn’t the eternal goal of the Founding Fathers? To build a “more perfect union?”

The Founding Fathers had it really nice before the Revolutionary War. They owned plenty of land, business, and people in the New World but they were still not satisfied. Instead of being able to chart their own path in America, they were still beholden to the laws, taxes and whims of the King of England. They started the Revolutionary War because they wanted to control their own affairs. Today, we celebrate them for standing up for their morals and fighting against an “oppressive” system.

So how are you going to call them patriots for calling out their oppression but call us thugs for calling out ours? How can you call the Boston Tea Party a revolutionary act of freedom but call Ferguson protests a riot?

If the actions of men like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are considered the highest form of patriotism then calling out the racist system that they created and we still live under is the most patriotic thing that I as an American can do.

So as a proud citizen of America who is attempting to follow in the patriotic footsteps of these great men, I say fuck the hypocritical, slave-owning Founding Fathers and the racist system they created. And I’ll keep exercising this patriotic duty until there is truly liberty and justice for ALL.